Raszt Cloister
The Order of Raszt is a small monastic order residing in the Great Sartian Desert. Beliefs of the Raszt Cloister The Raszt firmly believe in a cycle of reincarnation, they believe that when Celesté was created it was created with a "Miasma" that hosts the souls of every human that has ever existed, or will exist. The number of souls resting in the cloud of Miasma numbers 300,000, and no new souls can be created, and no souls can be destroyed. It takes a soul 3 days, 300 days, or 30,000 days to return to the earth in the form of a newborn after it dies. 30,000 days is granted to the souls of the truly wicked, those who have committed one of the Greivous Sins. These include murder, grand theft, extortion, and adultery. 300 days is granted to the souls who are imperfect, who have committed any of the Grave Sins, which include self-harm or suicide. 3 days is granted to the souls who have performed any of the Glorious Sins, which encompass sacrificing oneself for the greater good. Raszt refers to an ancient warrior born said to have fought off the ancient demon race the 'Dreomi' from entering the world. He mythically defeated a 30 foot tall 'Colossal' Dreomi using only his hands and feet, by leaping upon the Dreomi's head and forcing it to strike itself until it's total exhaustion, upon which point Raszt thrust his fist into the demon's throat. The Order holds a sacred lantern that Raszt, according to myth, used when camping out at a small point at the edge of a cliff, what is now known as Mt. Rhund, where he fended off a series of Dreomi. According to the beliefs of the cloister, it guides Raszt's soul back to the Cloister to enter into a child's body, making sure his soul always stays in the cloister. Traditions of the Order The Order practices a constant training for every child of the order to train in hand-to-hand combat. Those who can most closely mirror Raszt's style are picked as potential reincarnations of Raszt. As the children grow they are given jobs in the cloister, and one, if they are so believed, are picked as the reincarnation of Raszt. These young men are usually religious leaders until death. On the Spring Equinox the Order fasts for nine days while lighting candles to respect Raszt's stand upon Mt. Rhund against the dreomi. On the Fall Equinox the Order observes Raszt defeating the Colossal Dreomi, by forcing their hands through heated sand, to strengthen their muscles in reverence for Raszt. The Order also observes a "Transfer" of families in and out of the Cloister, in order to keep the lines of the Cloister from being muddied by inbreeding. For a generation some families will be rotated out in order to find and convert new families, and then return with those, when they are called to return a new set of families leave. Xenophobia The Order of Raszt is infamous for it's hatred of non-invited outsiders, punctuated by the Massacre of Hrann, in which the a group of Ka refugees escaping from a Ze attack upon a Ka village, and requesting asylum. When refused, the refugees attempted to force their way in and were subsequently attacked and slaughtered by a group of fighters. This story traveled far with the handful of escaped survivors, and since then the order has been regarded with suspicion, but their lack of aggression has caused the greater tribes to ignore their existence and simply not bother with them. Ksari Language The Ksari is the language spoken by the Raszt cloister, one invented by the first reincarnation of Raszt, Vakta Urhunn. The tenants of the language are generally kept from those outside the Raszt cloister, and considered to be one of the more difficult languages, though this is possibly only because so few of the rules are known to the world. The current known words are Hunn, a word which means priest, Shou, a word which equates to battle, and Guo, a word which equates to foreigner. The Deav The Deav consists of the writings of Raszt, and his teachings therin. The Deav is broken into three parts, first the Wo-Sin, a text detailing Raszt's exploits as a young man. Second is the Zu-Ji, which chronicles his later years and death as a teacher to others. Finally is the Sha-Jing, which consists of Raszt's teachings, proverbs, and parables. In many versions of the Deav, there also exists the Lon-Shi, which contains the collected ruminations on Raszt's teachings from the leaders of the Cloister. Important Leaders The Order of Raszt has had a great impact upon the Sarti Desert. Many of their leaders have changed how the group works and, through their actions, generally given the group a general reputation of being moody and quick to change. Note: All leaders take the last name Urhunn, which is contracted from Raszt's second name, Urual, and Hunn, a Ksari word comporable to 'Imam'. The First Reincarnation of Raszt, Vakta Urhunn A fighter that was born 3 days after the death of Raszt, the best fighter of the group. Heavily dependent on strength as a proof of need for existence, he began the practice of bloodsport to root out the weak in the Cloister, to make the bloodlines pure. Died of old age at 33. The Third Reincarnation of Raszt, Shoum Urhunn A fighter born 3 days after the death of the second reincarnation, won in the annual culling of the 'weak' children instituted by Vakta, and taking the reins of the cloister. Deeply interested in the idea of the strong helping the weak instead, he changed the bloodsport into a mentoring program, in which the strongest would aid the weakest. The Sixth Reincarnation of Raszt, Raam Urhunn Born 3 days after the death of the fifth reincarnation, yet again changed the formation of the Order by creating the Transfer, to force the cloister out of it's inbreeding problems. Furthermore, changed the mentor program and instead pushed for independence. Category:Religion Category:Non-Canon